Battle of Jiangxia

The Battle of Jiangxia occurred in 208 AD when the navies of Sun Quan and Huang Zu showed down on the Yangtze River near Jiangxia. Huang Zu was decisively defeated by Sun Quan and then beheaded, avenging Sun Jian's death.

Background
In 203 AD, the southern warlord Sun Quan decided to invade the lands of his blood rival Huang Zu in Jiangxia, but he was fought to a draw at the Battle of Xiakou, where Huang Zu's general Gan Ning killed Sun Quan's general Ling Cao with an arrow. However, in 207 AD, Gan Ning was persuaded to defect to Sun Quan after Huang Zu refused to promote him due to his pirate background. Sun Quan prepared an army of 100,000 troops and a fleet of 7,000 warships to launch a decisive campaign against Huang Zu, naming Zhou Yu commander-in-chief, Lu Meng van leader, and Dong Xi and Gan Ning generals. Huang Zu placed Su Fei in chief command, appointed Chen Jiu and Deng Long as van leaders, and prepared 200s of warships for battle.

Battle
Huang Zu's ships used stiff bows and large crossbows to repel Sun Quan's fleet, but Gan Ning led 100 light craft with 50 soldiers aboard each of them and sailed into Huang Zu's fleet, cutting the hawsers of the ships so that they separated and began to drift in confusion. Gan Ning killed Deng Long aboard his ship, while Lu Meng pursued and killed Chen Jiu. Su Fei was captured while leading Huang Zu's reinforcements, and Sun Quan continued to press the attack on Xiakou with the goal of capturing Huang Zu. Gan Ning ambushed Huang Zu as he abandoned Jiangxia and made for Jingzhou, and, when he saw Sun Quan's other general Cheng Pu rush towards Huang Zu, Gan Ning hurriedly wrought his revenge by killing Huang Zu with an arrow before severing his head.

Aftermath
Sun Quan had Huang Zu's head sacrificed in honor of his father, and he rewarded the soldiers for their victory and promoted Gan Ning. While he initially sought to hold Jiangxia, he was advised against doing so by Zhang Zhao, who warned him that Liu Biao would surely prepare a revenge expedition, and instead advised Sun Quan to return home to defeat Liu Biao's worn invasion before conquering Jing Province. Gan Ning convinced Sun Quan to spare Su Fei from execution for showing kindness to him, and Gan Ning was then sent with 5,000 troops and 100 warships to guard Xiakou, where he would be away from his blood rival Ling Tong, who still thirsted for vengeance for his father's death at Gan Ning's hands.